I’m Really Dumb Sometimes

Today ended up being a fairly light day. Just went to team training at 10 and then the advanced gi class at 11:30. Tried to roll at 5, but that story comes later.

Coach showed us a bread/butter choke from N/S top.

If left arm has underhook, it swims under shoulder to grab the back of opponent’s collar.

Sprawl on your toes and pivot to the right, driving your shoulder onto their sternum. 3 point pressure here.

Using right hand, grab their right collar and work it deep. If they block with a hand, pivot and pummel around their head.

Switch pressure from shoulder-sternum, to forearm-neck.

Pretty smooth, and not as complicated as it sounds. I just try to write it out as much as I can for my own memory’s sake.

I had some fun rolling today! I think coach enjoys throwing new upper level guys on me, and then laughing when they discover my grip strength. Got to roll with one of the heavyweight pro fighters who declared me to be “wirey” and told me I have really good technique. I told him I’m doing NAGA and he told me I’ll win. Yay kudos!

I went and had some pretty extensive bodywork done this afternoon. Adductors, ribs, and neck. Stupid me (I know better) I decided to go straight to a class afterward. Not just any class, it was the tough class of non-stop rolling with push ups in the place of breaks. I made it through 3 rounds before my mind went into panic mode and I started shaking and freaking out. Never walked off the mat in the middle of class before – made me feel really dumb. I’m a massage therapist: meaning, I know better than to do something that physical after getting that sort of work done.

I’m just thankful that I’m in tune enough that my brain freaked out about being in danger before I got injured! Would have happened too if I’d kept going.

I stayed to watch the end of class and was gonna go home, but I snagged one of the trainers (old ufc heavyweight fighter) and asked him to show me how to do weights to stabilize my shoulders. My rotator cuff is far too loose and weak to do a lot of the moves I would like to do. He showed me several exercises to do with “wimpy girl weights”.

Cool one for the rotator cuff that know no name for. Sit on bench with one foot planted so knee is up. Place elbow inside of knee and let arm rotate internally as far as it will naturally go. Then slowly rotate it up until right before tension eases then back down.

Shrugs for trapezius. Get to use the 35 pounders for this. I keep a slight bend in the elbow (no hyperextension!) And simply shrug shoulders up and roll forward.

He told me I need to do this every day 10 reps in sets of 3. It’ll take a while (like 6 months), but if I stay consistent, he said it’ll change the way I use my upper body in BJJ.

Only a couple pounds left until I hit lightweight! Yay! Really sucked this evening. A friend treated me to cheesecake factory and what do I order? Chopped chicken salad without the corn, bacon, or blue cheese. Ah well – it’ll be worth it!